Sharing the establishment process and aims of the Rare Disease Genetic Treatment Competition (RaDiChal) Laboratory, Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan said, “We built this laboratory especially for students in Turkey to understand and apply gene therapies."
Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan: “The RaDiChal competition, by its vision and mission, is based on developing next-generation, disruptive gene therapy technologies that can be used in the treatment of over seven thousand genetic diseases in the field of genetic therapies.”
Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan, Director of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Transgenic Cell Technologies and Epigenetic Application and Research Center (TRGENMER) and Project Manager of the MESSAGE (Microgravity Associated Genetics) experiment, shared the establishment process and aims of the Rare Disease Genetic Treatment Competition (RaDiChal) Laboratory.
Why was the RaDiChal Laboratory established?
Stating that the Rare Disease Genetic Treatment Competition (RaDiChal) Laboratory was established to meet the great need for genetic engineering and gene therapies in Turkey, Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan said, “We built this laboratory especially for students in Turkey to understand and apply gene therapies."
Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan stated that the infrastructure was designed to perform genetic engineering techniques, adding, “Our students from all over Turkey who need and want to learn about genetic engineering and gene therapies will now continue to receive their training and participate in the Rare Disease Challenge, our RaDiChal competition, in its laboratory. At the same time, we will also be able to use advanced genetic engineering techniques like CRISPR within this laboratory for our plant biotechnology studies, and thus develop new generation knowledge-based technologies.”
Aiming to train scientists needed in the field of genetic engineering
Stating that the laboratory offers education and research opportunities for students from all corners of Turkey and thereby aims to train scientists needed in the field of genetic engineering, Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan said, “The RaDiChal competition, by its vision and mission, is based on developing next-generation, disruptive gene therapy technologies that can be used in the treatment of over seven thousand genetic diseases in the field of genetic therapies. The number of laboratories and scientists capable of implementing these technologies in our country is almost non-existent. For this reason, we launched our RaDiChal competition in 2021 to increase the quality and number of scientists.”
When was the RaDiChal Laboratory opened?
The competition, consisting of semi-final and final stages initiated by the RaDIChal (Rare Disease Challenge) team founded with undergraduate students under the leadership of Assist. Prof. Dr. Cihan Taştan, had targeted Beta Thalassemia (Mediterranean anemia), Huntington's disease, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in 2023. In its 5th year, the Radichal (Rare Disease Challenge) competition will now be held as a “Rare Diseases Genetic Treatment” category within the Teknofest Biotechnology Innovation Competition.
The RaDiChal Laboratory was opened within Üsküdar Üniversitesi as part of the RaDiChal 2023 Final with the participation of then TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, and Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör.
